Quickest smoothie ever

Ever need a quick breakfast, but a granola bar isn't enough? Grab this.

Quickest Smoothie Ever
Serves one in a hurry
1/2 cup orange juice
1 frozen banana
1/2 frozen peach
3 frozen strawberries
1 TB ground flax

Blend all together. Gulp down immediately while running out the door.

Have we talked about flax seed yet?
I suppose it's time.

FLAX SEED is a superfood. This WebMD article summarizes a lot of it.

FACTS:

• Can be traced back to Babylon as early as 3000 BC, and King Charlemagne thought so highly of the food that he passed laws to command his people to eat it.
• Omega-3 essential fatty acids, "good" fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75-800 times more lignans than other plant foods.
• Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.
• It is linked to preventing cardiovascular and lung diseases, as well as preventing certain types of cancers (lung, breast, colon).
• The omega-3s in flax seed can reduce atherosclerotic plaque buildup (in the arteries) by up to 75%.
• Daily intake of flax seed can regulate your cholesterol levels and even your blood sugar, for current and potential diabetics. (This is so huge.)
• And, for middle aged ladies, 2 TB of ground flax seed in your yogurt or on fruit twice a day is believed to reduce hot flashes by 50%.
  

  

  Golden and dark flax seed are equal in nutritional value

Okay, if that hasn't convinced you, just try it. Flax seed in inexpensive (bought in the bulk bins at the grocery store or in bags in the healthy living/vitamin departments at the stores). It's cheaper to buy whole flax seeds and then go home and ground them in your coffee grinder or food processor. I keep a little jar of them on the kitchen counter, right next to the sea salt. It's easy to sprinkle on yogurt, fruit, in smoothies, oatmeal, in baking breads and cakes, in pasta, soups, taco meat, anything really! Doctors recommend 1-2 tablespoons a day, and consuming ground flax seed is absorbed much better than the whole seeds. It has a bit of a nutty flavor when eaten alone, but it virtually tasteless when mixed into foods.

Ground flax seed

 And now for something random...
This is what my summer has looked like.

No, do not fear, my husband and I are doing really well. I've been taking a Premarital Counseling class so I can be certified to counsel couples as they prepare for marriage. It involves a LOT of reading, including books like this that make for interesting conversations (or sympathetic stares) in the dentist office waiting room. Ha, that's okay, just another (humbling) sacrifice for a minister's calling, right? Hope your day is wonderful, fabulous and FLAXulous. :)